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Long Shadow
Long Shadow was a former member of the Ultimen. As with the rest of the team, he was genetically engineered by the U.S. Government to be a powerful team of superheroes obedient to them, unlike the Justice League. History Long Shadow had memories of having been born unusually sickly and small, and his parents, being scientists experimenting with growth hormones, had developed a growth formula that in time gave him the power to become a giant. However, Long Shadow later learned that these had been implanted memories and he had only been alive for about a year. After helping the League, Long Shadow developed somewhat of a crush on Wonder Woman. He even helped her take on Bizarro and Giganta, where he took out Giganta while Wonder Woman took on Bizarro. He wanted his team to join the Justice League but the other Ultimen were against it. Unlike the rest of the group who had been enjoying their own fame and popularity, Long Shadow earnestly wanted to join the Justice League. His efforts were several times rebuffed by his teammates, who in general, mocked him for it. After finding out the truth about their origins; That the Ultimen were merely the current batch from a perennially doomed experiment of creating superpowered clones with implanted memories, Long Shadow and the other Ultimen rebelled and tried to find answers. Unlike the others who went on a rampage, Long Shadow did what he could to begin rescuing civilians trapped in the office building that the Ultimen were attacking. During the ensuing battle, he was forced to choose sides against his teammates and the Justice League. In the end, he was able to convince Wind Dragon to stand down. When Amanda Waller showed up to take the captured Ultimen away, Long Shadow chose to stay with the Justice League, who formally inducted him in gratitude. It is unknown what other activities Long Shadow engaged in afterwards, or even how long he lived due to his cellular breakdown, but if he did die, unlike the Ultimen who died like lab rats, Long Shadow was given a hero's death. An earlier estimate by Professor Hamilton gave him as little time as a month. Powers and abilities Long Shadow had the ability to grow beyond his normal size, much in the same way that supervillainess Giganta did. It is unknown what his maximum size was, but he was able to stand one (giant) head over Giganta during a prison break. Despite his super size ability, he usually fought at human size where his large body frame makes him have superhuman strength. It is possible that Long Shadow developed a secondary power — super hearing. This would explain how he overheard information regarding the Cadmus Project when his other teammates couldn't. Developing a new super power wouldn't be unusual, since Wind Dragon too had developed an ice-related power. Clones Before the Ultimen escaped their base, they discovered fully grown clones of themselves, inside of test tubes. During the Ultimen invasion, dozens of Ultimen teams were unleashed against the Justice League when Superman went against the Cadmus Project. Background information * Like the other members of the Ultimen, Long Shadow was based on an original character from the old SuperFriends show. In that respect, Long Shadow was a reference/update to Apache Chief, another giant-sized superhero of Native American origin. However, as an artificial human, Long Shadow has no genuine Native American background beyond his implanted memories. Also unlike his SuperFriends counterpart, he requires no phrases to activate his powers. Appearances * "Ultimatum" * "Flashpoint" (clone) * "Panic in the Sky" (clone) Category:A to Z Category:Clones Category:Individuals with super strength Category:Individuals with the ability to alter size Category:Justice League members Category:Ultimen members